<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<head>
<meta charset="UTF-8">
<title>Secrets by LeastExpected_Archivist</title>
<style type="text/css">

body { background-color: #ffffff; }
.CI {
text-align:center;
margin-top:0px;
margin-bottom:0px;
padding:0px;
}
.center   {text-align: center;}
.cover    {text-align: center;}
.full     {width: 100%; }
.quarter  {width: 25%; }
.smcap    {font-variant: small-caps;}
.u        {text-decoration: underline;}
.bold     {font-weight: bold;}
</style>
</head>
<body>
<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/26330425">Secrets</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/LeastExpected_Archivist/pseuds/LeastExpected_Archivist'>LeastExpected_Archivist</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>The Lord of the Rings - All Media Types</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Fluff, M/M, Points of View, Romance</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2002-02-04</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2002-02-04</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-06 13:08:58</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Explicit</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>1,939</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/26330425</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/LeastExpected_Archivist/pseuds/LeastExpected_Archivist</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>By Nienna Calaquendi.</p><p>Love is in bloom on a summer afternoon in the Shire. Very fluffy. (Frodo/Sam)</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Frodo Baggins/Sam Gamgee</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>6</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Collections:</b></td><td>Least Expected</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Secrets</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>Note from Amy Fortuna, the archivist: this story was originally archived at <a href="http://fanlore.org/wiki/Least_Expected">Least Expected</a>, which has been offline since 2002. To preserve the archive, I began manually importing its works to the AO3 as an Open Doors-approved project in August 2017. I e-mailed all creators about the move and posted announcements, but may not have reached everyone. If you are (or know) this creator, please contact me using the e-mail address on the <a href="https://archiveofourown.org/collections/leastexpected/profile">Least Expected collection profile</a>.</p><p>Disclaimer: I acknowledge that someone other than myself owns the copyright to these characters. No profit has been made from this story.</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
"I've never seen the sky look quite so blue as it does today, Sam," I mused. We lay on the south bank of the river that flows into Hobbiton, far away from the village, tucked out of sight in a swath of tall grasses that stretched sunward. Hazy summer heat shimmered in the distance, across the ripening fields. Where we were hidden, though, the breeze off the water was pleasantly cool and the old quilt we lay upon for a few stolen hours and a picnic lunch was soft and warm.

</p>
<p>
Sam cast a speculative look my way, judging, I suppose, the response I was after. He rolled onto his side to face me. "Not half so blue as your eyes are, I reckon." His voice was serious, but his hazel eyes twinkled. 

</p>
<p>
I couldn't help but smile. Sam loved to tease, I had found, but I resisted being drawn into a flirting match just yet. "Look at the water, Sam, and how it reflects the clouds."
        
</p>
<p>
"That it does, Mr. Frodo." 

</p>
<p>
I lay on my back, propped on my elbows to look around. The afternoon sun rode high, the ancient silver willows that lined the river casting dancing shadows upon us. What few clouds there were drifted swiftly to the east, as thick and puffy and full as fresh whipped cream on an apple tart. 

</p>
<p>
"Looks like a thunderstorm comin' in by nightfall," Sam observed. I glanced over, my puzzlement obvious; how he knew such things I would never understand. He nodded at the horizon, explaining, "The clouds, buildin' up like that from the west, and how they're movin'"

</p>
<p>
"By nightfall, hmm?" I replied. "If it's a bad storm, you mightn't be able to get home and would have to stay the night with me."

</p>
<p>
He chuckled. "Aye, such a long walk home it is from Bag End, what with the pourin' rain and all."

</p>
<p>
"Indeed." Comfortable silence stretched between us. I didn't want to think about returning home and pretending that nothing had changed when <i>everything</i> had, and not so very long ago. The world had suddenly become new and different and full of wonder for Sam and I, for reasons that all those around us would neither comprehend nor appreciate. 

</p>
<p>
Sam shifted nearer, pillowing his head on his arm to gaze up at me, not yet touching but so close I could feel the warmth of his body, tangible as the strong golden sunshine. I settled down, facing him, near enough to share breath. This was a game we sometimes played, getting as close as possible without touching--and seeing how long we could stand it. I usually lost.

</p>
<p>
Sam's face was contemplative, inches from mine. "What does a day like this make you think about, Frodo?"

</p>
<p>
"Lying on a blanket in the sun with you," I responded quickly.

</p>
<p>
"No, really."

</p>
<p>
"But it's true!" I insisted. "There's not a thing in the world I would rather be doing today."

</p>
<p>
That coaxed a slow smile from him. "Aye, and that goes double for me. But I just..." His voice trailed off and he looked away, his eyes growing distant. 

</p>
<p>
"What, Sam?" There was little he wouldn't tell me, given enough persuasion, but vague worry rippled over me like a passing cloud and I reached out to squeeze his shoulder. 

</p>
<p>
He glanced down at my hand then returned thoughtful eyes to my face, reminding me silently that he had won our little game again, though that victory did not appear to lighten his serious mood. 

</p>
<p>
"I just wonder sometimes, sir, that is..."

</p>
<p>
"Sam," I said firmly. "What are <i>you</i> thinking about?"

</p>
<p>
He sighed, lifting a gentle hand to brush a stray curl off my forehead. "Well, I been thinkin' about...um...us." His brow wrinkled. "Fact of the matter is, I don't want to be anywhere but right here with you, right now, just like you said. But I get to thinkin' about goin' <i>back</i>, y'see. I'm right tired of makin' excuses to the Gaffer, keepin' secrets, tired of sittin' in the pub and makin' sure I act just so. Havin' to hide the way I feel. I don't like hidin.'"

</p>
<p>
"Nor do I, dear Sam," I answered. "I don't like lying to Bilbo, either, and I'm sure he knows I'm keeping secrets from him." I paused, considering. "Well, one particular secret."

</p>
<p>
"Some days I just about can't stand it, sir. I want to tell 'em all how happy I am, how happy <i>we</i> are, and I can't. It ain't right."

</p>
<p>
"No, it's not, and I would wish for things to be different, too." I sighed, and Sam held out his arms for me. I wriggled closer, resting my head on his shoulder. All thoughts of keeping open space between us were instantly forgotten when he curled his leg possessively over mine and pressed the length of our bodies snugly together.

</p>
<p>
I didn't have any easy words of comfort for him, knowing that it would be foolish to declare ourselves openly, even to our families. My own reputation concerned me not at all, but I cared too much for Sam to risk exposing him to ridicule, or worse. But it hurt me to know that our need for secrecy weighed on his mind so heavily--especially since I had absolutely no intention of giving him up. I could only hope he felt the same way.

</p>
<p>
Sam stroked my hair, knowing well how I loved to be caressed and held. It seemed his strength and caring radiated into me when we were close, enveloping me in his calm, comforting presence and shutting out the rest of the world. I closed my eyes, savoring the moment, as if I could store those feelings and return to them when I lay alone at night, longing for him. 

</p>
<p>
"When I'm not with you," I whispered against his throat, "I miss you terribly. And I hold you inside me, inside my heart, like the deepest and most precious of secrets."

</p>
<p>
He kissed the top of my head. After a long moment, he answered softly, "Well, I ain't never been nobody's <i>secret</i> before. Guess I don't mind so much bein' yours, when you put it that way."

</p>
<p>
"Mine," I smiled. "My secret." He kissed my forehead, my cheek, the tip of my nose. 

</p>
<p>
"<i>Our</i> secret, Frodo." Then his mouth, generous and warm and seeking, covered mine and his hands tangled in my hair. I tipped my face upward, his closeness as much as the brilliant afternoon sun flooding my body with warmth. We kissed slowly, deliberately, taking our time as we were rarely able to do. His tongue flicked lightly over my lips and I caught it playfully between my teeth before succumbing and kissing him open-mouthed and hungry. He overwhelmed me, flooded my senses, and I craved him. 

</p>
<p>
I threw my head back as he traced a line of tender little nibbles from jaw to collarbone, lost in the sensation, fine shivers tingling my skin. Already he had me trembling. He rolled us over, pinning me to the blanket, his body covering mine. For a long moment he gazed into my eyes before kissing me again, soft and slow and lingering.  I wondered what he saw, flushed and breathless as I was, but it made him smile.

</p>
<p>
"Sam," I murmured, stroking his back, tracing the thick muscles of his shoulders. I could feel the press of his arousal against my belly, my own eagerly straining to meet it, but he lay quietly between my legs, unmoving. His mouth captured mine again, harder, more insistently, his tongue plunging inside to claim and possess. I stifled a moan, my control already wavering, and arched up against him. 

</p>
<p>
"Shh, settle down, now," he whispered, moving away just enough to access my shirt buttons, opening them slowly, one by one, kissing each inch of skin as it was exposed. He trailed his fingers lightly over my chest and lowered his face to nuzzle first one nipple, then the other. I shivered and twined my fingers in his thick golden-brown curls as his kisses passed lower down my belly. When he ran his fingers underneath my waistband I gave a little frustrated cry and pushed my hips restlessly against him. My eyes flickered open to find him watching me with a rapt expression on his face. I touched a finger to his kiss-reddened lips. 

</p>
<p>
"<i>Please,</i> Sam," I implored, and he returned to lie above me again, molding our bodies so closely that I hardly knew where mine ended and his began. His eyes were heavy-lidded with want, that knowing little half-smile on his face as he pressed his hips down hard against mine, fire against fire. I grasped his firm backside, holding him tightly to me. He murmured against my cheek, "Like that, me dear?"

</p>
<p>
"You know I do."

</p>
<p>
"Hmm." He pulled away, sitting back on his knees. I tried to rise with him, but a gentle hand against my chest persuaded me to lie back. I watched wordlessly as he unfastened my braces, then my trouser buttons, tugging playfully until I raised my hips to pull the fabric out of the way. His glance swept over my bare skin like a caress, but he didn't touch me, not yet. Instead he leaned close for another kiss, light and teasing this time, leaving me breathlessly yearning for more. His trousers felt deliciously rough against my sensitized flesh. As I arched against him slowly, savoring the friction, I could feel his breath becoming quicker, his hands on my body a little less steady. 

</p>
<p>
I reached between us for his shirt buttons, and managed to undo the first several before he shrugged the garment carelessly over his head, casting it aside. Then our hands met with the same objective: freeing him from his trousers. He batted my hands away and made short work of the job, shedding them unselfconsciously and quickly returning to his place between my legs. Only a few times before had we laid like this, skin to skin. The feel of all of him against me, so welcoming, so full of desire, was quickly becoming more than I could bear. 

</p>
<p>
"Sam," I managed. "I don't know how long..." He hushed me with a smoldering kiss that stole what was left of my reason. Then slowly, so slowly, he began to move against me, and I locked my legs around his, finding our rhythm. His eyes never left my face. I let mine flutter closed as a blinding rush of sensation overwhelmed me, too soon, and burst in a heated surge between us. Sam gripped my hips, restraining himself till I lay back, spent, then in the next moment thrust hard and swift against me and erupted with a soft cry. He buried his face in my neck and we lay quietly for a long while as breath returned and trembling subsided.

</p>
<p>
I shifted under him, nuzzled his cheek so that he would look at me. His hazel eyes were bright with unshed tears, and something rose up and clenched my heart until I couldn't breathe, couldn't speak. I wrapped my arms around him more tightly and squeezed, and he made a sound that was somewhere between a laugh and a sob and hugged me just as hard in return.  

</p>
<p>
"I have a secret, Sam, one I've been wanting to tell you." He gazed at me tenderly, waiting, and my voice caught in my throat. "I love you, Samwise Gamgee."

</p>
<p>
A smile that outshone the vivid afternoon sun lit his face, and he answered, "I love you, too, Frodo, and that's no secret, it's a plain fact."


</p>
<p>
-end-</p>
  </div></div>
</body>
</html>